Judge Tosses ED’s ‘Professional’ Degree Definition, Likely Aiding Student Borrowers

A federal judge has tossed out the Education Department’s rule that strictly limited graduate students’ access to higher federal student loan borrowing limits, a victory for universities, health-advocacy groups and others who argued the policy could stop students from earning advanced nursing degrees and pursuing other crucial professions. 

The ruling, released late Wednesday night, centers on the definition of “professional” degree in Congress’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act and how the department narrowed that definition when it issued its rule implementing the law. Judge Beryl A. Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia called the department’s approach “misguided." The lawsuits regarding the rule aren’t over—Howell technically stayed the rule “pending final resolution of this litigation”—and ED didn’t provide interviews Thursday on how it would respond to the decision. It’s unclear now which programs ED will deem professional and thus eligible for higher loan borrowing caps. The loan limits take effect July 1.